I'm tired.
Tired of turning on ESPN with a 80% chance of hearing something about Barry Bonds within the first two minutes. Tired of pulling open any online sports site and being subjected to a "714 Watch" all over the damn page. Tired of all the speculation and discussion of what should be done about Barry's records.
I don't care. I just don't anymore. Look, the man hasn't hit a homerun since May 7th. He's had one hit since then. He's batting .217 with 11 strikeouts and only 18 hits. How often do you see Emil Brown, Phil Nevin, and Yuniesky Betancourt on SportsCenter? Because they are all hitting better than Barry this season.
Why is this man still starting every day? Why is he making 20 million dollars? Why is he still batting 2nd in the Giants lineup? I mean this is a team that is only 4 games out of first, in an easily conquered NL West. This season doesn't have to be all about Barry does it? How many more times do I have to see a pregame report that reads "Astros welcome Bonds, Giants to the Dome for a three game series"? Is that a joke? Actually, maybe the Astros are excited that Bonds is coming, because they know that he is going to get up to the plate and consequently get out at least five times in a game. Even with his balsawood knees and (my personal favorite) that grimace he makes when he realizes he just swung as hard as he could at a hanging fastball and only managed to fly out to shallow right, the Giants refuse to take him out late in the game for a defensive replacement or a pinch-hitter that might actually put a ball in play.
I think his career needs to be over. Some say send him to the American League where he can play DH and not have to drive his motorized scooter into the outfield every inning. But what team is going to trade for him? What team has space for a DH that hits .217 and doesn't even walk that much anymore? Granted, he would boost ticket sales wherever he went, that much is inevitable, but is a team with a chance at winning really going to make that tradeoff? Would the Tigers even want to dump a slumping DH in Dimitri Young for a soon-to-be-retired Bonds? Sure Young is only hitting .208, but he's eight years younger than Bonds. And he can still walk. The biggest problem in moving Bonds is his behemoth of a salary, which is more than half of the entire Devil Rays payout to their entire roster.
I think Bonds just needs to hit this 714th homerun, get it over with, and let the average American sports fan move on. He's not going to catch Hank Aaron, and he's not going to even get close - so Barry, please, tie up the Babe, start taking some days off, and then fade into the sunset at the end of this year, and go buy yourself a big ol' house in the Florida Keys or something. Save yourself and the fans of your game from this everyday bombardment of records + speculation + steroid controversy + Jose Conseco's abnormally large head that has already driven at least one baseball guy crazy.